Identification of Nuclear Effects in Neutrino-carbon Interactions at Low Three-momentum Transfer
Author | : |
Publisher | : |
Total Pages | : |
Release | : 2016 |
ISBN-10 | : OCLC:951618488 |
ISBN-13 | : |
Rating | : 4/5 (88 Downloads) |
Book excerpt: Two different nuclear-medium effects are isolated using a low three-momentum transfer subsample of neutrino-carbon scattering data from the MINERvA neutrino experiment. The observed hadronic energy in charged-current [nu][mu] interactions is combined with muon kinematics to permit separation of the quasielastic and [Delta](1232) resonance processes. First, we observe a small cross section at very low energy transfer that matches the expected screening effect of long-range nucleon correlations. Second, additions to the event rate in the kinematic region between the quasielastic and [Delta] resonance processes are needed to describe the data. The data in this kinematic region also have an enhanced population of multiproton final states. Contributions predicted for scattering from a nucleon pair have both properties; the model tested in this analysis is a significant improvement but does not fully describe the data. We present the results as a double-differential cross section to enable further investigation of nuclear models. Improved description of the effects of the nuclear environment are required by current and future neutrino oscillation experiments.